Running shoes on, Activate GPS App, Let the Gossiping begin!

It's Wednesday! Wednesday for me is all about leading the Tarmac Trooper's running club after work, and the sweet treats (Gummy bears) waiting for us at the finish line.

For my club members, Wednesday's running club also means a multitude of things which I will try to sum up for you. Most outsiders would be forgiven to think a running club is what it says on the label, but if you took time to peel back the layers you will discover more then you can imagine.

Before I begin to offer you a glimpse into this new social phenomena, you need to learn a few simple rules that colours the group's social structure:

The rule book

Social Group Pattern

• male dominant group
• female dominant group
• equal ratio in sex

The Overall Motivation of the group 

• Health (because the doctor sent them here)
• Personal fitness 
• Seeking thrills (popular for singles to use this as a dating pool/ social event)

Leadership

• Runner orientated
• Self-orientated

Ready, Steady, GO!

Going back to what we were discussing earlier, a running club is not all about pounding the pavement, the sweating or slogging the distance. Dependent on the combinations of social factors above, the nature of the running club can change from week to week. For example, the TT running club re-launched itself in June advertising for beginners to join the group. The new members changed the sex ratio from an equal 50/50 to a female dominant group, with a majority seeking personal fitness, and interestingly a couple of new guys showed up for thrill seeking! 

Sadly, for those guys, this female dominant group had form a bond early and rejected the guys advances, the social order was well established before any sparks took off. From a leader's point of view, I was glad as the members would be more focused on the runner's programme, and in parallel to the running there was the endless supply of gossips & light hearted chatter.

My Comfort Zone

Sometimes, it's hard to bring my runners out of their comfort zone when it comes to running outdoors on a sunny summer day. Life today, we had chosen a new route to test my members ability to deal with the unknowns. It's been said that runners body will adapt to a pattern quickly, knowing when to speed up, when to slow down and when to keep to a steady pace which reduces the overall effort of the runner. In a running programme where you are trying to build up endurance and strength, running the same route will stall progress and can be incredibly demotivating. As said by one of my runners, Amy, "I'm bored of this route, i want a challenge!" and I swiftly replied "Alright Amy, let's focus on your speed and we will work out a new route for next session."

Yeah... cheekiness and banter is one of the things I look forward to on a Wednesday evening too.

Tools

Download an app: There's nothing more convenient than being able to search for good running routes right near you, wherever you are. Use an app like MapMyRun to see where people near you like to go for a run. You'll be able to see reviews of each route as well as information like elevation or whether there are water fountains along the way.

Do your research: Before you go, hop online to find a route. USA Track and Field's route finder offers an extensive user-generated list of routes in your city based on the distance you'd like to go; if you need a more curated list, try WalkJogRun — here, you can input an address to find user-vetted routes that are closest to your starting point. View distance, elevation, and turns stats when you click on each run.

Keep track: Remember to keep track of your routes so you can remember which ones you liked the best, that way you can repeat your favorites as the training weeks go on. These free or cheap iPhone running apps help you log your the what-where-when of your runs as you go.

Kids Selfie Photographs on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter open to Bullying and Abuse

What happens when you mix social media like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with Teen Idols like the Miss Teen USA - Cassidy Wolf, Justin Biber, Miley Cyrus, One Direction - Harry Styles? Yes! Cyber-bullying, fears, tears and mega drama. 

A recent poll revealed that 1 in 10 kids as young as 10 years old has a smart phone with an inbuilt camera that is linked up to social media. A prominent News Paper states that a teenager will take over 1000 selfies photo in a year, peaking during the holidays/ vacation time or on big calendar events like at their BFFs birthday party. Now, hold your breath, when was the last time you check their photo albums? This is not a task for the faint hearted moms & dads! 

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & More

Kids are publishing photos of themselves on sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to win the approval from their peers, who can 'LIKE' or comment on their images. But when they fail to attract the desired attention or approval this can damage their self confidence. This is a sign of early self awareness behaviour, and it is being debated across the academic field to it's appropriateness in this young age group. 

Fact File

1. North Carolina, USA was the first state to charge students with Cyber-Bullying Crime.
2. Queens, New York, Gabrielle Molina, aged 12 took her own life after being called a slut online
3. England, Hannah Smith, aged 14 took her own life after she was bullied on a popular online forum ASK.fm

“Kids that are bullied are likely to experience anxiety, depression, loneliness, unhappiness, and poor sleep,” explains Jennifer N. Caudle, DO, an AOA board-certified family physician and assistant professor in the Department of Family at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine. 

The majority of teens post the photos in search of assurance and compliments, but they are also making themselves vulnerable to negative comments, bullying and abuse.

Who can help?

In the case study number 3, when Hannah Smith's dad try seek help from the popular social media platform, based on Sky News reporting, this is what happened allegedly.

Speaking to Sky News, David Smith said: "I sent them an email and they blocked my email - so I can't contact ask.fm - and they've never contacted me.

"It shows just how much they care. They don't. They're making money - lots and lots of money out of people's misery, and that is not right."

(see the full transcript in the link)

The huge publicity and outcry lead to the major advertisers of the popular social media platform to change their policy and to finally assist the Police to start an investigation to seek out the responsible culprits that contributed to the demise of the young innocent girl.

Please find below a few starting points if you are concern about your kids online safety. 

Cyberbullying.us - Cyber Bullying Research Center for the US readers

Stopbullying.gov - Cyber Bullying Government source for teachers and schools in the US

Childline.org.uk - for our British readers

@FFM, we would urge parents to pay extra attention around this time of year as the new school term is about to begin. 

What else can I do?

FFM partnered up with MyStorio publishing to develop a Parents Tip Sheet below. 

Spotting the Emotional Signs

1. Becomes withdrawn or shy
2. Shows signs of depression
3. Is extremely moody or agitated
4. Is anxious or overly stressed out
5. Shows signs of aggressive behavior

Spotting the Academic Signs

1. Doesn’t want to go to school
2. Gets into trouble at school
3. Skips school
4. Loses interest in school
5. Drops in grades

Spotting the Change in Social Behaviour

1. Suddenly stops using the computer
2. Changes eating or sleeping habits (e.g., nightmares)
3. No longer wants to participate in activities once 
4. enjoyed
5. Hurts self, attempts or threatens suicide
6. Suddenly changes friends

Signs that a teen may be bullying others**

1. Stops using the computer or turns off the screen when someone comes near
2. Appears nervous or jumpy when using the computer or cell phone
3. Is secretive about what they are doing on the computer 
4. Spends excessive amounts of time on the computer
5. Becomes upset or angry when computer or cell phone 
6. privileges are limited or taken away

Keep in mind that cyberbullying may be happening on top of other victimization. Teens may be experiencing physical bullying, dating violence, harassment, stalking, or other forms of victimization. 

We hope this post will help to raise awareness in parents the real dangers of cyber bullying, the good work of these organisations out there and mostly to pay respect to the innocent victims & their family. Please share this post with your family and friends if you feel they will benefit from the info. 

With Love & Respect

"Aspire to Inspire and Stay Focused!" Look to Lady Gaga

If the Mother of Monsters (Lady Gaga) was an athletics leader, what would her little monsters say? 

She's reached the number one Tweet again on the Twitters Sphere after being allegedly being criticised by Perez Hilton on her new album "Applause". Lady Gaga is very consistent at reaching the headlines as well as sweeping awards with her musical talents. For me, I'm more interested in her ability to influence her fans using the "Aspire to Inspire" mantra.

YouTube Channel at Clevver Music reviewed by Misty, 

Original Video

Lady Gaga's achievement to date:

Awards and nominations Award Wins Nominations American Music Awards 1 9 Brit Awards 3 4 Grammy Awards 5 15 MTV Europe Music Awards 8 20 MTV Video Music Awards 13 26
Totals
Awards won	191
Nominations	263

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Lady_Gaga

Twitter: 39,788,900 Followers

Facebook: 58,723,468 Likes 

Through her edgy image, elevating lyrics and electric personality, she has the power to mobilise her little monsters to tear down social media icons and large blue chip corporations. So, where am I going with this post? I'm trying to illustrate that our communication techniques as a Coach is only as effective as how receptive the audience is to us. In Lady Gaga's case, her monsters will love her as long as she continues to holds her image, music and personality.

Today's track & field training at the Copthall Training Ground was a good example. Due to the holiday season, the turn out was lower then expected for the younger age group. I was surprised to learn that the ones who didn't have the luxury of a break or a holiday away was sent by their parents to pro-long swimming lessons, dance classes and more. I'm just concern that these young athletes will burn out from all these extra activities, eventually they would be put off from sport in their later life.

How do you grab the attention of kids who are tuned out? We struggled to snap them out of their day-dreams and half effort performance. A good example would be the 200m bunny hop warm up exercise. We lined up the athletes on the start line (5 long minutes! As the boys were arguing who wanted Lane 6 because it's Usain Bolt's lane) before we carry out the demonstration. Then the girls broke out into a debate on who wanted Lane 2 as it's the fastest lane.... God give me strength! After the set-up which felt like an eternity, we got them off to a start to stay on task. The results were varied. 70% of the group hopped all the way while the 30% gave a paper-men like performance. (flopping all over the lane and even out of lane) I find these proverbs very fitting.

   "Birds of a feather flock together." 

   "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." 

I discovered that by joining in their conversation, I understood they needed encouragement and positive feedbacks. "X, your technique was good. Let see if you can repeat this on the next run. Y, your time was very close to X, you should be happy. Z, get off the mobile stairs, you can hurt yourself if you fall!". From that point onwards, all the paper-men disappeared and the athletes were thankfully focused and in a competitive mode. 

Coaching Session

Part1

Warm up routine:

400m - slow jog

50m - Greek Dancing down the lane (left side, then right side)

50m - Bunny hops

50m - kick stretches 

70m - Lunge 

70m - Marching with arms swinging at right angle

70m - 3 steps jump 

Main session - Acceleration + Sprint work

Example: Arms folded sitting on line, then run 50m (other variations)

Cool Down:

Routine stretches

Part 2

We finished the day with a block start training exercise. For short distance sprinting, the effectiveness of a block start is important. This could cost your athlete a position on the podium! 

Step One: Set out the block track as indicated in the photo below, and position the athlete in a tri-pod start position over the track.

Step two: Measure and record the correct distance of the athlete's footing and clip the blocks in place. Remember you'll need to move the track back to suit the athlete, so the track is actually NOT TOUCHING the line. 

Step 3: The front block is raised to 1

 Step 4: The rear block is raised to 3

 Step 5: Trial and error. Once the step up is complete, get the athlete to tri-pod starting position again. Readjust the blocks and the track to get the optimum setting for athlete. :)

Blimey! So this is it for today... also, please check out my website www.mystorio.com and LIKE my Facebook Page on MyStorio!

Coaching Good Habits in kids

"Whistle blows & a thunder of footsteps follows..."

Both the scientific community and the sports behavioural psychologists at UK Athletics agrees that humans are creatures of habits. Following this line of thought, it's our duty as coaches to train our young athletes or the kids to develop good habits in sports (on the track & field). 

Ok, let's rewind for a bit. Can you imagine when we blab out the word "behavioural change" or "habit modification" to the parents or the kids, we are met with some pretty awesome facial expressions. (I've include some pics for your pleasure). 

These expressions can range from a blank look to doubtful raise eye-brow....

...a fully charged "WTF" look.

I have to admit that it doesn't sound all too Frankenstein like at all... after repeating it to yourself for the fifth or sixth time. 

So, here is a list of things we try to impose

1) Stay hydrated at all times - bring a water bottle when they come training

2) Replenish sugar level after an exercise - via drink or small amount of food

3) Train faster recovery time by accessing stored carbohydrates - limit food intake to organic fruits like an orange or banana to assist initial recovery only

4) Retain body heat - cover up head and body to maintain core body temperature

5) Stay focus but relaxed - chatting with other athletes are healthy and especially during team sports

Can you add to this list?

For an established sports club, I would expect that their athletes are doing everything on this list already. However, for schools and the community youth clubs, where vending machines are readily accessible and available will find this a bit of a challenge. I'm also finding that parents will regularly use positive enforcement behaviour (giving sweet treats) to train their kids at home, which conflicts with our coaching programmes on healthy diet/ eating. So, when they come on our training programme, their bodies are conditioned to crave for the sugary energy bars, cokes, cakes and the rest. 

Somewhere in Germany, a kid did a great science project to chart the amount of sugar in the our drinks. Here is a photo, and you can follow their FB page. I use this photo to give a visual cue to the kids. This is not a scare tactic, but it is easier to explain to kids and adults when they can see the amount of sugar in a packaged energy drink. Actually, this gave me a scared as well. 

https://www.facebook.com/ExposingTheTruth

P.S I have a birthday dinner tomorrow with my sister's in-laws, so I will have to miss my coaching session. Please don't forget to ADD me to your Google+ :) 

Love stories, Love MyStorio

www.mystorio.com (website still in progress)

Training Kids for the Games

Blimey! So, now I'm a qualified UK Athletics Coach working with the Barnet District & Youth Athletics club...

I can still remember the training sessions when Steve asked the other trainee coaches about their motivation for being a coach. See some of the responses below:

1) X wants to improve their skills as a PE teacher & help her school kids to start WINNING at competitions
2) Y wants to combine his Fitness Instructor business with coaching teams
3) Z wants to inspire and motivate youths through sports

The geezers & geezettes in the group all attended for their own reasons, which I totally respect. I think my coaching experience will become an extension of my digital publishing business 'MyStorio'. I think Health & Well being for children & youths is an area I wish to explore.

Since the end of the London Olympics of 2012, Jessica Ennis & Mo Farah blessed us with their superstar performance, and adding to our hord of Olympic Medals, we have been left with a feeling of triumph and pride. As my fellow coaches confirmed that the uptake in Athletics in the year of 2012 - 2013 has increased by 4 folds, parents and kids all inspired to be the next Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah or the BOLT!

Now, my schedule is as busy as ever. I will be coaching at the Barnet & District Athletics Club on Tuesdays & Saturdays, and I'm leading the running club at my workplace on Wednesday evenings. I will add more to this blog, sharing some of my coaching experience, observations, resource and I welcome any comments! 

Ka

"Love MyStorio, Love Stories!"

www.mystorio.com

P.s My Website is going through an overhaul at the moment. Come back later! Also, PLEASE ADD ME on Google+, let's grow our Circle!